Money, Money Who’s got the Money.

The Natchitoches Parish Journal received this submission from Dennis Coleman. The views and opinions expressed are those of Mr. Coleman and not necessarily those of the Natchitoches Parish Journal. If you have an article for publishing consideration by the NPJ, please send it to NPJNatLa@gmail.com.

Since property taxes have remained unchanged since 1986 it has been reported by some that the “Money is there.” and there should be a lot of it. No doubt property values have increased so ‘there should never be a need to increase taxes’. Obviously, our state and federal government have completely overlooked that Godsend.

We also have available excellent road maintenance equipment which can do any job faster, better and more efficiently. How can we not have superior roads?

Then we have a duly elected parish council, whose job it is to provide oversight on all expenditures and get re-elected. Surely, if the money is there, they’d know and be eager to get some decent roads built instead of repeatedly lamenting, “There’s No Money.” Due to the relatively short time they have been in office, the money must have been there when the current council took office.

Not only is the current council capable of withholding the money from the citizens, it is so well hidden that the Parish President hasn’t found it and the independent Advisory Commission evidently could not find it either. In their comprehensive report they stated as much.

Are we to believe the current council has sat on their hands and done nothing to ‘Find’ all this hidden funding? Are they so tightly bound that not one would yield to pleas of those needing only a safe road. In a great conspiracy everybody is equally complicit.

For some “Conspiracy Theorists,” whose answer to every question is ‘The money is there,’ it is difficult to accept that the parish council, the parish president, the advisory commission and the accounting firm that does the annual audit have all so cleverly cached the ‘millions’ and that the money can’t be found.

Soon the parish council will either act on the recommendations of the advisory commission, or perhaps opt to hire an all-knowing ‘sleuth’ to uncover the funding to repair, rebuild or replace the roads of Natchitoches Parish.